Making the Connection
by CSI4nsicAce
Summary: GSR - Grissom and Sara have been dating each other for quite awhile, and they have some obstacles to overcome before Grissom can pop the question. COMPLETED
1. Chapter 1

_Disclaimer: I do not own anything pertaining to CSI.  
Please do not repost this story anywhere without my permission.  
Thanks, enjoy._

_This story assumes that Grissom and Sara have been going together while season 4/5 were going on and everyone knows about it. Spoilers through Mea Culpa._

* * *

Taking a quick ten minute break, Greg walked around the corner and into the locker room. The case they were working on was tough, a string of rapes and murders, and it was taking its toll on all of them. All the while, thoughts lingered in the back of their minds that Ecklie had split them up, and things could have been much easier if the team was still together. Inside of the locker room, Greg expected to find solace. What he didn't expect to find was the brunette sitting on the floor shaking. "Sara?" he quietly called her name, not wanting to startle her. 

Sara looked up and Greg saw that her face was pasty white and tear-streaked. He immediately knelt down in front of her on the floor and tried to find out what was wrong. "Sara, what is it?"

"H-hurts," she managed to shutter out.

Greg's eyes once again drifted to her crossed arms and he saw it. Blood was beginning to pool under her and Greg's eyes widened in shock. "I'm calling an ambulance Sara, everything is going to be okay."

Sara gave a slight nod of her head and whispered, "Grissom."

"I'll get him too, you just hang in there."

Greg pulled his cell phone off his belt, dialed 911, and paged Grissom.

Grissom picked up his beeper and looked at it when he felt it vibrate. '911 LR GREG' displayed on the screen. _Urgent at the locker room?_ Grissom walked from his office, down the hallway, and into the locker room. "Greg, this better be..." he started.

Grissom froze when he saw Sara and the blood on the floor. Greg broke away from Sara's side as Grissom went to take his place. "Griss, I came in here for break, I found her like this, I don't know what happened, but I called 911, they should be here any minute."

Grissom knelt down next to Sara and grabbed her icy hand. "S-sorry," she whispered.

"Sara, don't," he said, stroking her cheek, "you're going to be okay, the ambulance is coming."

Before he could say anything else, two EMTs broke through the doors. After stabilizing her for transport, they started to wheel Sara out the door. "Greg, lock this door until everything can get cleaned up. Tell Catherine what happened and tell her that I'll call as soon as I know what is going on."

"Okay," Greg nodded.

* * *

At the hospital, Grissom was ushered to the waiting room to sit and ponder what could be going on with Sara. They had been going together for about five months, and Grissom thought that they would both agree that those were the happiest times of their lives. Grissom was pretty sure that he knew what was happening, but he was worried none the less and anxious for a doctor to come and speak to him. He was about to ask the nurse how Sara was doing when his cell phone rang. "Sir, you're going to have to take that out into the lobby, no cell phones in the hospital," the nurse berated him. 

Grissom gave the nurse a stone cold stare and took the phone out into the lobby. "Hello," he barked.

Catherine disregarded Grissom's tone and carried on. "Gil, I just got to the lab. Pretty much everything is under control now. I called in Nick and Warrick to come down and keep working on the case, but they haven't gotten here yet." Catherine drew in a big breath, "How is Sara?"

"I don't know yet, the doctor hasn't come back out. I'm pretty sure she miscarried, but I'm waiting on the doctor."

Catherine nodded her head, realizing that Grissom couldn't see her. "I'm sure she'll be fine Gil, but give me a call when you know what's going on."

"Okay, tell Greg I said thank you. I'll call later."

Both of them hung up and Grissom went back to his perch near the nurse's station.

* * *

About an hour and a half later, a doctor emerged from behind the emergency room doors and walked over to Grissom. "You are listed as Ms. Sidle's next of kin?" the doctor asked. 

"Yes," Grissom answered, pointing at his CSI identification.

The doctor seemed to accept this as proper identification and proceeded. "Ms. Sidle miscarried. Actually, by looking at her chart, if birth control was the only method of contraception, I'm surprised that she didn't get pregnant before this. She's suffering extreme side effects from her birth control pills, therefore rendering them absolutely useless. The side effects of the pills have compounded over time, and she should have noticed some of the symptoms. Did she seem dizzy at all, nauseous, complain of excessive pain in the joints, or extreme headaches?"

Grissom immediately started to wonder what Sara had been hiding from him. "She's had a lot of migraines recently, and she's been really tired, but we've been working really hard on a case."

"Well, Ms. Sidle is in a lot of pain right now, but we don't want to enter any more medication into her system. She should be able to have more children. I'm willing to discharge her now if she'll have someone with her at home for a few days."

"I'll be there with her."

"Let's go then."

* * *

Grissom followed the doctor down to the curtain where Sara was sitting on the edge of the bed. She looked absolutely exhausted, and tears streaked her ashen face. Grissom squeezed her hand and helped her down off the bed, immediately putting his arm around her. "Ms. Sidle, I'm discharging you, but I want you to have someone with you at home for a few days. If you have any more increased bleeding or severe side effects, I want you to come back here right away. Do you have any questions?" 

Sara shook her head. The doctor handed her the discharge papers, she signed them, and Grissom guided her out of the hospital. Neither one of them said anything throughout the entire ride home.

* * *


	2. Chapter 2

After Grissom pulled into the driveway, Sara waited on her side of the car for him to come around and open the door. He helped her out of the car and into their townhouse. They had both decided a couple months ago that there was no need for both of them to be living in separate places, and Sara had happily moved in with Grissom. Grissom started to direct Sara toward the couch when she squeezed his hand tightly. "Gil, I just want to go lay down, maybe we can talk in a little while," Sara said stoically. 

Grissom frowned in concern, but turned to help her to the bedroom. Once inside he tried to help her get into more comfortable clothes, but her hand on his halted him. "Gil, I can do this by myself. Why don't you go call and update Catherine and then come back in a few minutes?"

A hurt look crossed Grissom's features, but he kept a few choice words to himself. "Holler if you need anything, honey," he stated, walking dejectedly back into the living room.

* * *

_Why does she have to push me away? _Grissom picked up the phone and dialed in Catherine's cell phone number. "Willows," she picked up. 

"I just brought her home," Grissom stated, "she's going to be okay."

Catherine noticed the odd tone of his voice and called him on it. "Are you okay?"

"She's pushing me away already. I gave her her space in the car and I didn't start conversation, but as soon as we got home she just wanted to go to bed."

"Well, don't you think that she's probably got some conflicting emotions about this, and she's probably really tired and just wants to rest?"

"If it were only that I wouldn't be worried. She wouldn't let me help her get undressed, and she sent me out to call you."

"Gil, she's upset. Just give her some space, and after she's rested for awhile start to talk about it."

Grissom, not wanting to just dwell on their problems for the moment, asked about the case. "Did you get any further on the case?"

"Greg's back working on the fibers and DNA, we're still waiting for those results. Nick and Warrick and going over the latest vic's clothing to try and find any usable evidence. I'm going over the locations and trying to find any sort of a pattern that we could be dealing with here. We still don't have enough evidence, and we're shorthanded, so things are going kind of slow. We really need to talk to the big wigs again about the shift changes."

Grissom sighed and pressed his fingers to his head, fighting off the impending migraine. "Cath, I know about the problems. Just the three of us were working on that case, three! Since Sophia left we've been so short-handed, and this crap with the splitting up the shifts. We reported it to the higher ups before saying that it was unacceptable working conditions, and we needed the shifts put back together because we were so shorthanded. Maybe with the pressure from this case they'll reconsider and put everything back together. I just can't deal with that right now Cath."

"I know, you help Sara feel better. What are the doctor's orders?"

"She's got to stay home for a few days until she starts to feel better. The doctor said she had an allergic reaction to the birth control pills, and with that plus the miscarriage she's feeling pretty achy right now. The doctor also said that someone needed to stay with her, not that I wasn't going to be here anyway. Cath, I should get back to her."

"Okay. Gil, right now we're handling things okay here, but I don't need to tell you that we're going to need more help if we get more evidence."

Grissom felt himself start to get angry again, but he suppressed his temper. "Cath, my primary concern is Sara, but if you come across anything that you absolutely need help with, call me, we'll figure something out."

"Okay, tell her everyone says to feel better. Bye."

"I will."

* * *

Grissom walked back into the bedroom and found Sara curled up on her side in tears. Without comment he stripped down to his boxers, got into bed, and wrapped his arms around her from behind. He tried to shush her, and he whispered words of comfort while she cried. "Everything is going to be okay," he soothed.

Sara turned over in his arms, but couldn't look him in the eye. "I'm sorry," she cried.

Grissom's eyes widened in surprise, and he wrapped his arms tighter around her. "Sara," he spoke, tilting her head up to look her in the eye, "you have nothing to be sorry for."

Sara shook her head. "But..."

Grissom interrupted her statement with a brief kiss on the lips. "Honey, you couldn't have prevented this. Neither one of us had planned this, and both of us have been so stressed lately. I'm sorry that I didn't notice that you weren't feeling well sooner."

This was Sara's time to quell Grissom's apologies. "To be honest with you, I'm not sure if I knew exactly what was going on myself. I've been tired and achy, and I kept getting those damn migraines, but I thought it was just because we've all had to keep working so much. I never thought..."

"Shhh," Grissom brought his finger up to her lips, "we can talk about everything after you get a chance to rest. Do you need anything?"

"Only you," Sara said, wrapping her arms tight around him and snuggling into his chest.

Grissom kissed the top of her head and held her as she drifted off to sleep. Only then did he let a solitary tear slip down his cheek.

* * *


	3. Chapter 3

When Grissom awoke, he noticed that Sara wasn't beside him. Immediately concerned, he noticed a stream of light from under the bathroom door, and he knocked on it. "Sara, you okay?" he questioned.

"Griss, can you come in here a second?"

Grissom opened the bathroom door and found Sara sitting on the floor with her head against the cold tile of the bathtub. "Sara, why don't you let me help you back to bed?"

Sara ignored his declaration. "Can you call my doctor and find out if I can take my migraine medication? My head is killing me, and it's making me really nauseous."

"Let me help you back into bed first, you shouldn't be sitting on the cold, hard floor."

Grissom picked Sara up off of the floor and carted her back to bed. After he made her comfortable once again, he sat on the edge of the bed with phone in hand. Although he was put on hold for a few times, he was finally able to speak to her doctor. "Dr. Grissom, what can I do for you?"

"I need to know if it is safe for Ms. Sidle to take her migraine medication. She's got an awful migraine, and she's in a lot of pain."

"She can't take the medication, it is still too soon, and her body hasn't recovered from the allergic reaction. You can give her some acetaminophen though to alleviate some of the pain."

"She has migraine medication for a reason, acetaminophen isn't going to do much for her at all."

"In three days, she can take the migraine medication if she experiences a migraine, but until then, I don't want it introduced to her system. Give her the acetaminophen and try to keep her comfortable in bed."

Grissom sighed and thanked the doctor before placing the phone back in the cradle. Sara looked at him with expectant eyes. "Acetaminophen only, no migraine meds for three days."

"Griss, it's not going to do anything!"

"Honey, it might help with some of your aches at least. Let me go get you that and a drink of water."

Grissom kissed her forehead and ventured back into the bathroom to get the medication.

* * *

Grissom returned with the medication, water, and a damp washcloth. While she downed the pills, Grissom placed the washcloth on her head so she would get a cool, soothing sensation to try and curtail the headache. After setting the cup of water on the side table, Grissom climbed back into bed next to Sara and ran his fingers up and down her arm. "I am so tense," Sara moaned.

"Well, you have Grissom's magic fingers at your service. What can I do for you?" he smirked.

A semblance of a smile passed Sara's face. "Can you give my neck and back a massage?"

"Sure. Are you going to be comfortable enough with that headache to turn over?"

"I think so, help me out here."

Grissom helped Sara to turn over, and when he was sure she was comfortable he started giving her the backrub. He was about to turn her back over and give her a kiss when he realized that she was sleeping once again. He carefully turned her over and propped a pillow under her head before retreating to the bathroom to take a shower.

* * *

Feeling refreshed after his shower, Grissom decided to go out to the kitchen and start preparing lunch. He made two vegetarian omelets and was just setting them on the table when Sara emerged from the bedroom. "Hmm, smells good," she said, continuing to walk toward Grissom. 

"Omelets. I thought you were going to sleep longer?"

"Nah," she said, wrapping her arms around his midsection, "the migraine seemed to ease up a little, so I want to get some food into me. I woke up to the wonderful smell of omelets cooking, so I decided to come out and investigate."

"How do you feel?"

"Still achy, but the constant pounding has subsided somewhat. As long as you don't decide to start playing rock music I'll be fine."

Grissom grinned, leaned down, and kissed Sara before they both sat down at the table to eat their meal.

* * *

Upon finishing their omelets, Grissom and Sara ventured to the living room to relax on the couch. Grissom leaned against the arm of the couch and Sara nestled her body into his chest. Grissom had turned the television on, but Sara reached over for the remote and turned it off. Grissom looked down at her with questioning eyes. "Do you want kids Griss?" she asked, absentmindedly stroking his chest. 

"I suppose one day. We've talked about this before Sara."

"I know, but I wanted to make sure that that is where you still stand."

Grissom reached his arm around Sara and turned her so that she was facing him. "Hey, don't start doubting yourself hun," he said, brushing a few hairs away from her face, "this wasn't the right time, it wasn't meant to be. If we ever get to the point that we want to have kids, we can talk about this again."

Sara gave him a small smile and pulled him down for a brief kiss. "Have I told you how much I love you?"

"Yes, but I wouldn't mind hearing it again," he said, beaming from ear to ear.

"I love you, Gil Grissom."

"I love you too, Sara Sidle."

They shared a lingering kiss before Sara reached over and turned the television back on, both of them becoming engrossed in a forensics program.

* * *


	4. Chapter 4

Grissom cursed his cell phone when it rang. Although he and Sara had been watching a forensic program, both of them had fallen asleep. _Please don't wake her up! _Grissom pulled his phone off of the side table. "Grissom."

Sara turned, got off of the couch, and pointed toward the bathroom. Grissom nodded his head and paid more attention to who was speaking to him on the phone. "Gil, it's Cath, we've got another body down here and we're completely overwhelmed."

"Same MO?"

"Yup, tied up, raped, murdered, and posed. Another brunette, 5'9", 130 maybe. Gil, this is going on third shift for all of us, we need fresh eyes."

Grissom sighed and put his head in his hands. "Cath, Sara can't come in."

"Gil, I'm not asking for Sara, I'm asking for you."

"Who's there right now?"

"Warrick and Nick are both at the scene, and Greg's here at the lab processing anything that comes back. I told Warrick and Nick that I would join them at the scene as soon as I can, but I need another person here processing. They're exhausted Gil, I had to wake both of them up to get them out to the scene, and Greg has been working non-stop for God knows how long."

"When's the last time you slept?"

"The ten minutes I got before you called me a day ago to come in and work the case in your place."

Grissom paused once again when Sara came back into the living room. "Let me talk to Sara and I'll call you back."

Grissom set down the phone and Sara sat next to him on the couch. "You have to go into work, don't you?" she asked, wrapping her arms around him.

Grissom let out a breath of air he didn't know he had been holding. "Yeah, right now everyone is pulling triple shifts and they at least need one more body so someone can try and get some rest."

Sara turned and gave him a brief kiss on the lips. "Go, I'll be fine by myself, and if I have any problems I'll call."

The look in Grissom's eyes told her he doubted his decision. "I just don't want to leave you here," he said, pulling her into his arms.

Sara looked him in the eye. "Gil, this case is horrible. With the latest body the total count is at ten. We need to find out who is doing this and give all of the poor women justice. I know you're not going to let me come with you, so just go get ready, and I'll call Cath."

Grissom nodded his head, kissed her forehead, and went back into the bedroom to get dressed.

* * *

"Gil, are you coming?" Catherine answered the phone after checking the caller id. 

"Yeah, he's coming in," Sara replied.

"Oh, Sara," Catherine realized, "how are you feeling?"

"I'm okay to be here for a while by myself, I think I'll manage."

"If you need anything, call any of us, okay?"

"Yeah. I'm probably just going to rest anyway."

Grissom walked back into the living room dressed for work. He put his hand up to his face in a gesture that he wanted to talk to Catherine. "Cath, Griss wants to talk to you."

"Okay, you feel better."

Sara handed the phone to Grissom. "Cath, call Warrick back to the lab and tell him to get some sleep. I'll meet you out at the scene."

After getting directions from Catherine as to where the scene was, Grissom hung up the phone and turned back to Sara. "You'll call if you need anything?"

"Yes," Sara said, wrapping her arms around him.

"Please take it easy," he pleaded.

"Don't worry about me, just go work on the case. I'll be fine."

They exchanged kisses and Grissom left to go to the scene.

* * *

"Meet Katheryn Masters," Brass stated upon Grissom's arrival at the scene, "GSW to the chest." 

Grissom nodded. "Any witnesses?"

"No, she was dropped too. No one saw the drop."

"You talk to the family yet?"

"No, I was waiting for you to get here before I left. How's Sara?"

"She's okay, achy, but okay."

"That's good, she gave Greg quite a scare."

"Yeah, she scared me pretty bad too."

"Alright, I'm going back to the station to start contacting the family."

Grissom nodded his head and ducked under the crime scene tape.

* * *

"Cath, Nick, you guys find anything yet?" 

"No, David is just about to take the body back to the morgue. Nick's going to go back with him and get started on the clothing right away."

Nick was about to ask Grissom a question when he cut him off. "Nick, Sara's okay, tired, but okay. She wants to catch this killer as much as the rest of us, so let's just get our job done and try to find some evidence against this guy. Work on the evidence for a while, and then wake up Warrick to take over your job. You need some sleep too."

Nick nodded and followed David to the coroner's van. "I'll take where the body was, you take the perimeter," Grissom stated to Catherine.

"Okay Gil."

* * *

About a half an hour after starting work on the clothes, Nick found some fibers on the discarded jeans. Nick immediately took them down to Greg to look at under the microscope. "Greg, I need you to look at these now!" he stated, swinging the plastic bag in the air. 

Greg turned around in his swivel chair and looked at Nick with bleary eyes. "What do you have?"

"Black fibers, I want you to see if they match the fibers found on all of the other victims."

Greg took the evidence from Nick and compared it to the other evidence under the microscope. "Black, trilobal, definitely car fibers," Greg paused for another second while comparing the two fibers, "and they are a match to the fibers taken off of the other vics. Same silver car with black interior."

"Which still matches the five thousand models of that car sold in Vegas."

"You got anything else for me yet?"

"Nah, why don't you go down to the break room and try to catch a few zs, we'll get you when we need you."

"Okay, thanks."

Greg and Nick parted ways, Greg going to the break room and Nick going back to continue looking at the clothes.

* * *

Grissom and Catherine finished processing the scene, neither one of them finding anything very useful for their investigation. "Cath, why don't you go see if Brass has found out anything, I need to go speak to the higher-ups." 

Catherine stared at him with an inquisitive eye, but said nothing. They headed back to the lab in separate vehicles.

* * *

"Sheriff, I need my team back in one piece," Grissom demanded. 

"Haven't we already had this conversation?"

"Yes, and you still haven't seemed to do anything about it. No one is happy with the current situation. I know that the people who are on day shift now want their swing shift positions back, and you sure as hell know we need the night shift back together."

"Gil, I'm looking into the situation, I still need to talk to Conrad Ecklie."

"So why haven't you talked to him yet, it's been over a week?"

"He called in a few days ago to take a week off, and he hasn't been back yet."

"Well, don't you think he is stalling to try and make this take longer?"

"Gil, I don't know..."

Grissom cut him off and lost his temper. "There is a serial killer on the loose, we just got the tenth body in the morgue, and you expect a team of two to work on the case! Right now I keep having to call in swing shift to work on this, and people are pulling triple shifts. This is not effective forensic work sheriff!"

"Well, you would have another person if you brought Ms. Sidle back in."

Grissom's face only got redder with anger. "Ms. Sidle is on medical leave. We are short-staffed because of the crap that Ecklie pulled, not because Ms. Sidle is ill."

"I'll discuss this with Conrad when he comes back. Until then, I'm expecting this serial murder case to be solved."

Grissom vacated his seat and stormed out of the sheriff's office.

* * *


	5. Chapter 5

Grissom went back to the CSI lab, entered his office, and slammed the door behind him. He dropped in behind his desk and picked up the phone. "Sidle," a groggy voice answered him.

"Did I wake you?"

"No, I was just dozing on the couch. Everything okay, you sound stressed?"

"I should be home taking care of you."

"Griss..."

"I just got done talking to the sheriff. Apparently Ecklie decided to take a week off, and he won't do anything about our situation until he can talk to him. Therefore, we are still short staffed and working around the clock."

"What's your pulse at now?"

Grissom chuckled but continued, "He also decided that if I needed extra help, to bring you in, and no, you are not coming in."

"I don't think I'm up to coming in anyway."

Grissom was taken aback by this statement. Even when Sara was sick she wanted to work. "Honey, are you okay?"

Sara got choked up for a minute, but she held back her tears. "Yeah, I'm trying to get some rest."

Grissom heard the hitch in her voice and became concerned. "Sara, I can come home if you need me."

Sara took a second to compose herself and took a deep breath. "Griss, I'm fine. When you get a break from the case, come home, but I can manage until then."

"Okay honey. Remember, if you need anything, call. I love you."

"You too, bye."

Grissom hung up the phone and stared at Sara's picture on his desk. She needed him, but he was stuck working on the case. Trying not to dwell on his angry thoughts, Grissom went down to the lab to try and find out what Greg was working on.

* * *

When Grissom entered the DNA lab, he realized that it was empty. He continued down to the evidence room and found Nick working on the victim's clothing. "Nick, where's Greg?" 

"I told him to go get some sleep in the break room, and I'd call him when I had some evidence to give him."

"Okay, have you found anything?"

"Black fibers that match the ones on all of the other vics. Nothing else yet."

Grissom stared at the shirt in front of him and noticed something shine in the light. "Nick, can you hand me the tweezers?"

Nick handed over the tweezers, and Grissom picked up a short hair off of the shirt and put it into a bindle. "Okay, that's enough of this crap. Nick, you, Greg, and Warrick can go home. You're way past your effectiveness now."

Nick was surprised by Grissom's reaction. "But..."

"No buts Nick, you're not in trouble. You've all gone long enough without rest, you've got the next eight hours off."

Nick wasn't quite sure how to react to the situation. "Griss, not that I don't want to go home and sleep, but, Catherine's my boss."

Grissom started to get angry once again. "We're getting all of that crap fixed up. The three of you need to go home and get some sleep so we can actually get somewhere on this case."

Nick grinned. "Thanks Griss, I'll tell the guys."

A small smile cracked Grissom's face before he went to work on the DNA analysis of the hair.

* * *

After Nick told the others they could go home, Nick called Sara. "Sidle," she answered. 

"Hey girl, how are you feeling?" he asked.

Sara smiled. "I'm okay Nick, how's the case going?"

"Griss just found a hair on the girl's shirt. We've never found any evidence like that before."

"Yeah, I know. Well that gives you something then."

"Yeah, eight hours off. I'd been staring at that shirt for a while, and I hadn't found anything."

Sara giggled. "At least you can get some sleep now."

Nick smiled again. "Hey, you up for some company?"

"Nick, you need to go home and get some sleep."

"First I'd like to stop in and see my friend who just got back from the hospital a day or so ago and see how she's doing."

"Nick, I'm fine."

"I'll stop and grab some pizza, and we can chat for a little while."

"Okay Nick, but you better get enough sleep when you leave."

"Yes mother," Nick laughed, hanging up and driving the rest of the way to her house.

* * *

Grissom started processing the DNA from the follicular tag and then called Catherine. "Willows," she answered. 

"Anything from Brass?"

"Nope. You got anything?"

"Found a short hair with a follicular tag on the girl's shirt. I'm processing it for DNA right now. We just have to wait the two weeks to get the results."

Catherine smiled. "Why are you processing the DNA and not Greg?"

"I sent Greg, Nick, and Warrick home. They were way past the point of being objective. They're coming back in eight hours."

"Now Grissom, I do believe you took over my supervisory duties there," Catherine joked.

"Don't even get me started. I went to talk to the sheriff, and he suggested I bring in Sara if I need extra help."

"Did you give him a swift kick in the ass?"

"No, but apparently Ecklie decided to take a week off, and the sheriff won't do anything until he can talk to Ecklie. Therefore, we have to keep dealing with this crap."

"Aren't politics wonderful?" Catherine laughed.

"Yeah, wonderful," Grissom said sarcastically, "I'm going to keep processing the vic's clothes. When you're done there you might as well go home and get some rest before coming back in. We don't have much to go on right now."

"Alright, thanks Gil."

* * *

Nick arrived at Sara's house and knocked on the door. Sara got up, checked the peephole, and let Nick in. "Hey girl," he said, giving her a one-armed hug, "one plain pizza special for you." 

Sara smiled and let Nick into the house. After locking the door, she led Nick to the couch where she had already poured drinks for both of them. They both sat down on the couch and grabbed a slice of pizza. After they both finished eating, Nick spared the small talk and plunged right into conversation. "So Sara, how are you really doing?"

Sara sighed and looked down at the floor. "Nick, I don't really know how I'm doing. I'm really tired and achy, I keep getting migraines, and I'm an emotional see-saw."

Nick gave her another impromptu hug. "Sar, you don't need to keep up a strong front for me, or anyone else for that matter. You don't have to be okay all of the time. Something traumatic happened to you, and you need some time to adjust."

"Traumatic?"

"You don't think that having a miscarriage is a traumatic thing? You can't expect to feel absolutely wonderful the next day hun."

Tears started to form at Sara's eyes again, and she struggled to wipe them away. "See, I'm an emotional wreck."

Nick gave her a reassuring hug. "Sara, what's really bothering you?"

Sara kept her head leaning on Nick's shoulder and replied. "I don't think I'd make a very good mother."

Nick pulled back and looked her in the eye. "Sara, if the time comes that you are a mother, you'll do fine. You care so much about kids, and you're such a nice person."

Sara playfully hit his shoulder. "You don't need to flatter me."

Nick smiled. "Sar, you have nothing to worry about. You take the time you need to work through this, and then you'll be fine."

Sara gave him a watery smile, and he gave her a tight squeeze. "Thanks Nick."

"No problem. Now, I need to go home and get some sleep so I can actually function."

Sara wiped away her tears and smiled again. After letting Nick out, she returned to the couch to try and get some more sleep.

* * *

Nick pulled out of Sara's driveway and called Grissom. "Grissom," he answered.

"Hi, it's Nick. I just wanted to tell you that I stopped in to check on Sara. She's a little blue, but she's doing okay."

Grissom thought about the fact that he had told Nick to go home and get some sleep, but he was more concerned about Sara's wellbeing. "Was she crying?"

"Not when I got there, but I asked her what was really bothering her, and she said that she wasn't sure she would make a good mother. I reassured her, but she's just trying to come to terms with things right now."

"Thanks Nick. Now go home and get some sleep so you can get some work done when you come back in."

"Okay Griss, bye."

Grissom clipped the phone back to his belt and continued to look at the clothing in front of him. _I'm not sure I would make a good father either._

_

* * *

_


	6. Chapter 6

Four hours later Grissom had finished processing the clothing and went back to trying to determine a pattern between all of the murders. He was plotting points on a map in front of him, but a pattern wasn't really being developed. He sighed and looked at the evidence in front of him again when Catherine poked her head in the door. "I thought you were going to stay home longer."

"No, I had enough rest, and I didn't want to wake Lindsey up, so I figured I'm come back here and start working again."

"What time is it anyway?"

"Five AM. Why don't you go home to Sara for a while?"

"Yeah, I would like to. The guys should be here in another two hours, they should be able to help with developing a pattern."

"If there's anything pressing I'll give you a call. Otherwise, stay with Sara."

"Thanks Cath."

Grissom made a quick stop to his office, then happily headed home.

* * *

Grissom let himself into the house and found Sara asleep on the couch. He turned the television off and carried her into the bedroom. After he tucked her into bed, he stripped down to his boxers and got in next to her. She turned over and wrapped her arms around him. "How's the case?" she asked, kissing his chest. 

"The DNA from the hair is running now, but that'll take awhile. Cath is back at the lab working on the pattern, and the guys are going to help her out when they get back. Since they didn't really need me anymore, I'm all yours."

"You're all mine anyway," Sara joked, nestling closer into his chest.

"How are you?"

"I'm feeling a little better. My head doesn't hurt so much, I'm just really tired."

"Well, that's good."

Sara pulled herself up to eye level and looked Grissom in the eye. "Do you think I would make a good mother?"

Grissom brought his hand up and caressed her face. "Sara, you would make a fine mother," he said, kissing her lips.

"You would make a good father too."

"You think so?"

"Yeah," Sara said, kissing him back, "I don't know why I'm so bothered about this."

Grissom wrapped his arms tight around Sara and kissed her forehead. "Sara, you're not in this alone. Any question you want to ask, go ahead and ask it. Do anything you need to try and feel better. I can't help you if I don't know how you feel about some things."

Sara nodded her head and snuggled back into Grissom's chest again. Grissom started to hear sniffles, and he kissed the top of her head. "Don't cry honey," he said, pulling her tighter to him.

"I'm so lucky," she whispered in between sobs.

Grissom wiped her tears away and whispered, "So am I, so am I."

* * *

A week and a half passed and they still hadn't gathered any more information on the murders. Sara peeked her head into Grissom's office. "Griss, you want to come with me to get some food?" 

"I can't, I have to go talk to the sheriff, can you bring me back a salad?"

"Sure, I'll be back in half an hour."

Sara left Grissom's office and headed to an all night deli not far from the lab.

* * *

Grissom once again found himself sitting across from the sheriff. "Have you talked to Ecklie?" 

"He still hasn't reported back to work."

"I thought he just took a week off, it's been way more than a week."

"He extended his time off."

"This is unreasonable, we shouldn't have to wait just because he decided to flee the country or something."

"I need his account of why he split up the teams in the first place. If there was a good reason to break you up, I'm not just going to stick you all back together again."

"Here's a good reason to put us back together. There is a serial killer out there who is raping and murdering innocent women. We need the team together to be able to work together and catch him."

"Gil, I'm sorry, but I'm not putting the team back together until I talk to Conrad. For the interim, you can try and work as a unit to catch the killer. As soon as I talk to Conrad I'll let you know my decision."

Grissom got up from his chair and left the room.

* * *

At the deli, Sara ordered two salads and sat down to eat hers. When she finished, she picked up Grissom's salad and headed back out to the parking lot. She was readying her keys to get into the car when she got hit with a blunt object from behind. She tried to react and fight back, but everything went black.

* * *


	7. Chapter 7

Grissom stared at his watch for the third time in five minutes. _Sara said she would only take half an hour, and it's already been forty-five minutes. Maybe she got stuck in traffic. _Grissom quit negotiating with himself and picked up the phone to call Sara. The voicemail that answered him didn't please him too much. "Sara, it's me, you said you'd be back after half an hour, and I know it's only been forty-five minutes, but you're usually back already. Give me a call when you get this message."

Fifteen more minutes passed, and Sara still hadn't called him back. After trying her cell phone again and not receiving any answer, Grissom walked down the hallway to the lab where he knew Catherine was working. "Cath, I'm going to go check on Sara, I'll be back in a few minutes."

"Didn't she go to get food?"

"Yeah, but she said she'd be back half an hour ago, and she isn't answering her cell. I just want to go down there and make sure she's okay. Hold down the fort for a few minutes."

"You know Gil, I am supervisor of a shift..."

"So you keep telling me. I'll be back in a few minutes."

* * *

When Grissom pulled into the parking lot of the deli he noticed that Sara's car was still in the parking lot. He quickly got out of his car and dialed her cell phone once again. The distinctive ring of the lab cell phones rang out in the darkness and Grissom jumped. _Stop overreacting, maybe someone else has the same ringtone. _Grissom ventured over toward the car and the sound of the cell phone became more pronounced. He noticed something glinting near the edge of the other streetlight in the parking lot and walked closer. On the ground lay a strewn open bowl of salad, a set of car keys, and the text on the now glowing cell phone stated _1 missed call, Grissom._

_

* * *

_Grissom was immediately back on his cell phone calling Catherine. "Willows."

"Cath, Sara's missing," he said hurriedly.

"What do you mean missing Gil, she's probably on her way back now."

"Her car is still in the parking lot of the deli, her keys and cell phone are on the ground, she's gone," Grissom said, exasperated.

"Gil, I'll get Brass, you stay there, we'll be right there."

* * *

Grissom stormed into the deli and spoke to the lone cashier behind the counter. "Did you see a brunette woman come in here a little while ago, about 5'9"," he pulled a picture out of his wallet and showed it to the cashier. 

"Yeah, she came in, ordered two salads, stayed and ate one, and took the other with her when she left."

"When did she leave?"

"About forty minutes ago."

"This woman's car is still in the parking lot, and she is missing. Did anyone else come in around that time?"

"No, it's been a pretty slow night."

"Stay in here, the police will be in soon to question you."

Grissom walked back out of the deli and grabbed his kit out of the back of his car. He sure wasn't waiting for Brass and Catherine to get there to get started in his search for Sara.

* * *

When Brass and Catherine arrived, Grissom was taking pictures of the scene. Grissom heard the car pulled up, and he turned around. Catherine walked up to him and pulled the camera out of his hands. "Get away from the scene so this isn't contaminated in court Gil." 

"Catherine, leave me the hell alone, she's missing, and I have to find her," he tried to take the camera back.

"We will Gil, but you know you can't touch this. Go tell Brass everything you've found out and see if you can get the security tapes."

Brass pulled Grissom away from the scene and back toward his car. "Is this what it looked like when you got here?"

"I pulled in the parking lot, saw her car, and called her cell while I went to investigate. I heard her phone go off, and I continued to walk toward her car. Then I saw the salad, her keys, and her phone. I called Cath and went to talk to the cashier inside."

"He see anything?"

"No."

"The uniforms should be here any minute to question him. We can go get the security tapes to bring back to the lab though."

Grissom nodded and the two went back into the deli.

* * *

After acquiring the tapes from the deli and leaving the cops to ask the cashier more questions, Grissom and Brass returned to where Catherine was working. "You find anything?" Grissom asked. 

"Not besides the obvious. I'll keep looking for a little while, but there's nothing here."

"I'll print the driver's side door and then have the whole car brought back to the lab."

"I'm going back to the lab to look at the security tapes. Nick and Warrick will be ready to help you when you get back to the lab."

Catherine nodded. "We'll find her, Gil."

Grissom turned and followed Brass to the car. _We better, I need her._

_

* * *

_"Greg!" Grissom yelled down the hallway upon entrance to the lab.

Heads turned throughout the lab as Greg ran around the corner from the DNA lab. "Griss?"

"Sara's missing, you and I are going down to the A/V lab to try and see if we can catch a glimpse of what happened."

Greg nodded and trailed after Grissom to the A/V lab.

* * *

Grissom and Greg sat in the A/V lab intently watching the tape. So far they hadn't seen anything, and Grissom instructed Greg to fast forward the tape until they saw some kind of movement. "Greg, stop the tape," Grissom stated. 

Greg stopped the tape and looked expectantly at Grissom. "That's ten minutes before Sara would have gotten there. Okay, now play the tape."

They kept watching the tape and caught the first glimpse of a car a minute later. "Slo-mo this."

Greg pressed another button, and the two of them watched as a sliver car came into view. "That matches the make and model of the car in the serial case," Greg uttered absentmindedly.

Grissom nodded his head, and they continued to watch as he parked the car in the darkness. About seven minutes later they saw Sara pull into the parking lot and walk into the deli. "At least she parked in the light where everyone could see her, she knows her stuff."

"She still got kidnapped Greg," Grissom said testily.

Greg kept his mouth shut once again. They watched intently until they saw Sara leave the deli. Wary of Grissom's mood, Greg hit the slo-mo button again before Grissom could ask. They watched as Sara took her keys out of her pocket to open the door, and then they saw the man hit her in the back of the head with a bat. "Well, that's why there's no sign of a struggle," Grissom said.

Greg kept quiet as they finished watching the rest of the scene. The man picked her up and carried her back into the darkness where his car was. Seconds later they saw the silver car drive out of the parking lot, just as calmly as it had driven in. "I couldn't see the license plate at all, he had it covered over," Greg stated.

"Couldn't get a very good look at the guy either. Go find Archie and see if he can do anything with this. I'm going to find out how they're doing with her car."

Greg ejected the tape and meandered down the hall to find Archie. Grissom took out his cell phone and called Brass. "Jim, I need you to put out another APB on that silver car. This time put Sara's picture with it."

"Gil, this doesn't match the serial."

"We looked at the tape and saw the same make and model silver car enter and leave the lot at the deli. Sara matches the description perfectly."

"Did you get anything else off the tape?"

"License plate was covered over, never got a good look at the guy. Archie's working on it now."

"You'll be the first to know if I find out anything."

"Thanks Jim."

* * *

Grissom walked into the garage and found Nick, Warrick, and Catherine printing the outside of the car. "Guys, stop printing." 

They all quizzically looked up at Grissom. "I just got finished looking at the tape, he never touched the car, forget it."

They set the fingerprint powder down and Catherine moved to pick up her bagged evidence. "All I got at the scene was her cell phone, the salad container, and her keys."

"Print the cell phone first, he took it out of the clip, so if there's prints, that's where they'll be."

"Did you get anything from the video?"

"Silver car that matches the make and model of the serial car. Brass put out another APB. For now, that's all we have."

_Absolutely nothing._

* * *

Sara woke up and instantly realized that her arms were above her head. She tried to pull them back down to her face, but she discovered that they were handcuffed to pipes in the ceiling. She tried to move her legs, but they were handcuffed to pipes in the floor. Sara struggled to get loose, but her efforts came up fruitless. She let her head hang down, and she started to sob. "Help me," she wailed, "help!"

"No one can hear you here," a cold electronic-altered voice answered, "you're mine now."

Sara ignored her captor and continued to scream. When her voice failed her, she was forced to give in and let her head hang once again. "Grissom," she said, an almost silent prayer, "please find me, I need you."

_I need you._

* * *


	8. Chapter 8

Twenty-four hours later the team was still struggling to find some evidence to try and locate Sara. Greg was still working on the DNA analysis, and the rest of the team was trying to come up with a pattern. Grissom decided to go check on Greg. "Greg, you finished with that DNA yet?"

"No Griss, you'll be the first to know."

"How close are you?"

"A few minutes and I'll have the profile, then I have to put it through CODIS."

"Call me as soon as you get something."

"You know you might not get anything."

The icy stare that Greg received told him to shut up and get back to work.

* * *

Sara felt her arms start to pop out of socket because she had been hanging by them for so long. She screamed when her right shoulder dislocated. 

"Now Sara, you know no one can hear you, hush up," the electronic voice prodded.

"Let me go!"

"Now why would I? I've been doing all of this for you, every single one of them. You see, you were so pretty, but I needed some time to get everything set up."

"You raped and murdered all of those innocent girls?"

"Oh, they weren't so innocent, and you aren't either."

"Why can't you let me down, you didn't handcuff any of the other girls."

"You, Sara Sidle, super CSI, aren't any other girl. Special person, special treatment. You're too smart to let loose."

"People are going to miss me, they are going to hunt you down."

"Oh, who, your honey Gil? He has already been proven inferior. I am so much better than him."

"Gil is so much better than you could ever be."

"Oh, we'll see about that. You do recall what happened to all of the other girls before they died."

Sara's eyes widened in horror. "You..."

"We don't need to use naughty words. Your time will come soon enough milady."

Sara screamed and was succumbed by tears again.

* * *

Greg finished the DNA profile and sent the data into CODIS for comparison. About ten minutes later the machine blinked and displayed a name on the screen. Greg was shocked at the revelation and pulled out his cell phone. "Grissom." 

"Griss, I got something you're going to want to see."

* * *

When Sara heard the door open, she quickly turned to try and see her captor. "Uh, un, uh," he spoke, technology absent, "you can't see me yet." 

He turned out the lights and walked closer to his prize. "I want to give you a little something first."

Sara whimpered as she tried to determine where the man was. She heard metal scratching against the concrete floor and more chains being latched. "Wh-what are you doing?"

"You'll find out soon enough my dear."

The man latched a few more chains into place and pulled out a set of keys. "I'm going to be nice and get your hands down from the ceiling. You try and fight me, and I'll end it right here."

He unlocked the handcuffs and grasped her arms tightly behind her back. Suddenly he jerked her down toward the floor, and her spine connected with the newly installed bench. "Ah, sorry, bet you didn't think that was there."

More tears started to form in Sara's eyes as her back started to throb. The man locked a new set of handcuffs around her wrists that were already attached to the floor. "Now, I hope you're comfortable because you're going to be staying this way for a while."

Sara realized what was going on and she started to struggle. "Don't struggle," the man said sarcastically, "that only makes it better for me."

He started to lower his face next to hers, but stopped. "Oh, I almost forgot."

The man pulled a blindfold out of his pocket and tied it around her head. "Let there be light," he crossed the room and flicked the switch.

Sara continued to struggle, but the man straddled her body. "Now, now, I'll take care of you, you'll be fine."

He grasped her chin and forcefully kissed her lips. "Now for the surprise."

The man reached down and pushed the blindfold off. All that could be heard was Sara's screaming realization before he attacked her lips once again. _It's over, it's all over._

* * *


	9. Chapter 9

"Greg, you got something?" Grissom asked, entering the DNA lab.

"You're not going to believe this," Greg stalled.

Grissom glared at Greg. "Greg, Sara's missing, spare me the intro."

Greg held up a printout, and Grissom's eyes widened with the unexpected information. "Ecklie!" Grissom roared.

Grissom read through the paper again. "Greg, are you sure you did this right?"

A hurt look crossed Greg's face. "I know how to do my job. CODIS doesn't lie, that hair came off of the vic's clothes. Ecklie wasn't anywhere near that scene."

"Except to kill her."

"Griss, what do you want me to do?"

"All hands on deck, get ready to go with Brass and check his house."

* * *

Sara knew she had her window of opportunity when her captor stopped touching her. "What's the matter, you can't perform?" Sara grinned at her realization, "You know, Gil never has a problem in that area." 

A look of pure hatred crossed Ecklie's face and Sara threw in another blow. "You finally have me, and you can't do what you want with me. Good plan."

Ecklie punched her in the face and laughed evilly when she seemed dazed. "I suggest you learn how to speak to me," he growled, fleeing the room in anger.

Sara relaxed somewhat when he left the room. _Good, I got just what I wanted, time._

_

* * *

_

"Did you get a location on him yet?" Grissom asked Brass.

"He's not in his office, big surprise. We're getting ready to go to his house. I need you to send some people over there to try and collect any evidence."

"I'm going over there," Grissom stared him in the eye.

"You're not processing. You can come to see if she's there, but you're not touching anything."

"Let me go tell Cath we're ready to leave, they should have everything all together and ready to go."

* * *

They pulled up to the scene, and Grissom looked at Brass in disbelief. "Well, I guess he lives kind of light," Brass joked. 

Grissom returned a cold glare. "This is the address in the personnel file?"

"Yup, wonder how long he's been planning this."

"Get some dogs down here, I want to know if anything is on this property."

Grissom's phone rang on his hip. "Grissom."

"Gil, I think we have a problem," Catherine stated.

"Yeah, no house. Take everyone back to the lab and search for any properties in Vegas that might have Ecklie's name on them. Send Nick up to process his office."

"Do you want one of us to try and track down his car?"

"Leave that for Brass to do, just go and look up any properties."

"What are you going to do?"

"I'm staying until they go over this place with dogs. Call me if you find anything."

Grissom hung up and Brass started talking. "Dogs will be here in a few minutes. Do you want to go down and start looking around?"

"Yeah, let's see if there's anything else here but dirt."

* * *

With Ecklie gone, Sara decided to take the opportunity to look around the room. _There aren't any windows, I'm in a basement. Everything is cement, there is no hope of getting out of these handcuffs alone._ _Gil, I need you so much right now, please find me._

_

* * *

_The officers had finished leading the dogs around the scene, and nothing had been found. "Jim, let's get back to the lab and see if you can find out what kind of car Ecklie drives."

"Oh, I know what kind of car Ecklie drives."

Grissom gave Brass a puzzled look. "Silver, same make and model as what we're looking for," Brass stated.

"Well, maybe you can try and find it?"

"How do you expect me to find it?"

"Jim, you're the cop. That model car has a locating system built into it. Get the insurance company to turn it on and see if you can locate the car. Of course, you're going to have to see if it's under his name or at least get a license plate number to find it, but most of the work is already done for you."

"Why thank you, you just told me how to do my job."

Grissom glared at him and spoke, "Let's get back to the lab."

* * *

Grissom entered the lab and Warrick approached him. "Griss, I think I might have something." 

"What?"

"All of the drops where the bodies were found were 5.9 miles apart. Also, the drops are spaced oddly, but the pattern kind of looks like an S."

Grissom shook his head and looked at his hands. "You have a possible location where the next drop would be?"

"Griss, that would be too late."

"Where is the next drop?"

"I'll get you the possible coordinate window from the map."

Grissom answered his cell phone when it started to ring again. "Grissom."

"Gil, I got you a location, get your stuff ready again and we'll go out there."

Catherine told him where the location was and something clicked in his mind. "That's within the area that Warrick just gave me for where a drop could be made. He found an S pattern and found out that all of the drops were 5.9 miles apart."

Grissom's phone started ringing again, and he looked at the caller id. "Cath, I'll meet you out in the lot, Brass is calling me," Grissom hung up with Sara and switched to Brass' call, "Jim, what do you have?"

"I've got a location on the car."

After listening to Brass describe where the car was, Grissom sighed. "Jim, get a warrant and dispatch some uniforms to that address. Catherine linked a property in Ecklie's name at that address, and it matches the pattern that Warrick established. Cath and I will meet you in the lab parking lot to go out there."

"Alright, I'll be there in a minute."

* * *

"We're going in flashers off," Brass explained on the way to the house, "we don't want to give him the heads up or any chance to escape." 

Catherine nodded, but Grissom stayed extremely still throughout the whole ride. "I want the two of you to stay back," Brass explained, "let the people who are trained to deal with this go first. Then, when we clear the scene, you guys can come in."

"Sorry Jim," Grissom barked, "I've never been to a scene before."

Brass gave him an equally potent death stare back. "Guys, cool down the testosterone," Catherine piped in from the back.

That earned her two glaring looks from the front seat. Everything was quiet the rest of the way to the scene.

* * *

Ecklie heard noises outside of the house and looked out the window. Police cars surrounded the house, and he watched the officers get ever closer. "Damn it!" he swore. 

Ecklie grabbed his gun and disappeared through the trap door to the basement. Sara was startled when he came lunging back into the room. "That cop is too smart for his own good," he mumbled.

Ecklie didn't think Sara heard him, but he quickly found out that she had. "Help," she screamed, "Grissom! Somebody help me!"

Ecklie leveled his gun and pulled the trigger, causing Sara to go silent.

* * *

Everyone outside held their breath as they heard the resonance of the shot. "Go in, go in," Brass yelled to the officers. 

All of the officers went into the house and split up to try and find Ecklie. "All clear," the calls came back, one by one.

"There's got to be a trap door somewhere," Brass yelled.

"I got it! I got it!" one of the officers yelled.

All of the officers streamed to the location of the trap door. "On my count," Brass yelled, "one, two, three!"

One of the officers opened the door and one by one the officers started to stream into the basement.

* * *

Sara felt blood streaming down her right arm, but she struggled to stay awake. "Help me!" she screamed again. 

Ecklie shot another round into her shoulder and Sara cried out in pain again. "You speak again," Ecklie growled, "the next one goes in your heart."

Ecklie backed as far away from the door as possible and kept his gun trained on Sara. He waited for the cavalry to inevitably enter the basement.

* * *

"Ecklie, drop the gun, you're surrounded!" Brass yelled from the doorway. 

"Surrounded am I?" Ecklie taunted, "I believe you're only by the door Captain Brass. Oh, and look who I have here, the beloved Sara Sidle. There's no way you're taking a shot at me while I've got this gun trained on her."

"Ecklie, drop the gun, you don't want to hurt anyone else."

"Why bother, she's the one I've wanted all along. I'm already going to get the death penalty, why not end it all here and take her with me?"

Sara saw that she somehow had to distract Ecklie so they could have some kind of a shot at him without killing her. "Ecklie, if you want to shoot me, why don't you go ahead, it won't bother me," Sara tried to stall.

Brass frowned at Sara's choice of words. "Shut up!" Ecklie shouted, waving the gun at her.

"Don't take that tone with me, I don't answer to people who speak with that tone," Sara mocked.

Ecklie was furious and he turned his back on the officers, gun still pointed at her shoulder. Brass took this opportunity and three of the officers fired at Ecklie's head. Another shot sounded off as his lifeless body crashed to the floor. Brass was at Sara's side in a second, pulling out his handcuff key. "Sara, you with me?" Brass asked, touching the side of her face.

"Gil," she spoke.

"An officer is getting him right now," Sara's eyes started to close, "Sara, you've fought this far, stay awake for me."

Brass was able to uncuff Sara from the floor, and he carefully laid her down on a clean space of the floor. "Is he..." Sara started to ask.

One of the officers nodded to Brass, and Brass turned back to Sara. "Yeah, he's dead, you don't have anything more to worry about."

Brass pulled off his tie and wrapped it tightly around Sara's shoulder. "Did that last shot hit you?" Brass asked, looking her over.

Sara's eyes looked down toward her right hand where blood was gushing everywhere. Brass took off his jacket and pressed the sleeve against Sara's hand. "You're going to be okay Sara," he comforted.

One of the officers led Grissom into the basement, and Grissom noticed where Sara had been trapped. _Don't worry about that now, Sara needs you. _Grissom's eyes also drifted to where Ecklie now lay dead. Many cold thoughts ran through his mind, but he crossed the room to where Sara lay on the floor. "Honey," he spoke, grasping her left hand.

Sara looked up toward Grissom, and he tried to wipe some of the tears off of her face. More tears immediately pooled at her eyes and fell down her cheeks. "You're going to be okay," Grissom kissed her cheek, "we'll get through this."

Grissom took a minute to notice her state of dress, and he inwardly cringed. "Sara, did he touch you?" Grissom asked.

"Almost, he tried, but he couldn't. He didn't come back to me until you guys were outside. Then he shot me. God Gil, it hurts so much," she started to cringe again.

"Shh," Grissom comforted her.

The paramedics came down through the basement door and assessed Sara for transport. After splinting her arms and transferring her to a stretcher, they brought her out to the ambulance and headed for the hospital. Grissom was in the ambulance with her and held her hand the entire way. _I hope she's okay, I need her. God, it was almost too late, oh God._

* * *


	10. Chapter 10

Sometime during the time that Grissom was sitting in the waiting room, Catherine had arrived. _Wow, am I so out of it that I'm not even noticing my surroundings? _"Cath, how long have you been here?" Grissom asked.

Catherine walked over and sat next to him. "I've been looking for you. They've been giving me the runaround because I'm not family," Catherine started to ramble, but got back on track, "any news yet?"

"They took her into the operating room about an hour ago. She's got two bullets in her shoulder and one in her wrist, they're worried about nerve damage."

_That SOB. _"Everyone else is back at the lab trying to sort through this mess of a case. Jim has the sheriff detained in his office."

Grissom looked up at Catherine. "They're questioning him about harboring a murderer, saying that he may have been in on Ecklie's plan," Catherine recited.

"Not likely. There will be some kind of problems with the stalling he pulled though."

Catherine noticed that Grissom was incessantly tapping his foot. She rested her hand on his knee and looked him in the eye. "She's going to be okay Gil, we have her, she's safe."

Grissom shuddered and looked away, trying to conceal tears of anguish. "Cath, she was almost raped and murdered, and she is in surgery to have three bullets removed from her. She most definitely is not okay, and I almost lost her. He could have killed her."

Grissom finally choked up and succumbed to his tears. Catherine slid across the chairs and pulled him in for a hug. "She's safe, he can't hurt her anymore," Catherine whispered in comfort.

After a minute, Grissom pulled away from her shoulder and looked at the wall clock. "Cath, I need to go for a walk. The nurse said it would be a while yet, but I'll be right around the corner if anything comes up."

Catherine nodded and sighed. _You just can't let us in, can you Gil? We know you have feelings, and we're here to help you, but you won't let us. At least she can get through your thick skull._

_

* * *

_Grissom walked down the hallway to the bathroom and ran his hands through his hair. Looking in the mirror, he noticed how dark the circles under his eyes were, and realized how tired he was. He threw some water on his face to wash away the tears, and he took one more glance in the mirror before leaving the bathroom. He tried to clear his thoughts and returned to where Catherine was sitting.

* * *

About three hours later, Grissom started when a nurse entered the waiting room. "Mr. Grissom, please come with me, Ms. Sidle is asking for you." 

"She's one stubborn woman," the nurse continued as they walked down the hall, "she's in a lot of pain, but she said she wouldn't take the pain medication until she got to speak to you."

"How is she?"

"The doctor will speak to you after you see Ms. Sidle. He wants to give her the medication so she can rest."

Arriving at her room, the nurse opened the door and allowed Grissom to enter. "Five minutes," she spoke.

Grissom nodded and walked over to Sara's side, taking her left hand. She opened her eyes and gave him a half smile. "Hey," she spoke.

"Hey yourself. How do you feel?"

"I think my adrenaline wore off," she winced.

"Well, you'd already be feeling better if you let the nurse give you the morphine," he chided.

"I wanted to see you first, that stuff will knock me out."

"Well, I think that is the point," he spoke, brushing her hair away from her now bruised face, "I love you honey, and I'm glad that you're safe."

Grissom briefly kissed her, trying to be careful not to hurt her. "I love you too," Sara whispered, "thank you."

"For what?" Grissom looked puzzled.

"For saving me. He would have..." Grissom cut her off as she started to tear.

"Shh, don't worry about that now," he soothed, wiping the tears away from her face, "you're safe, he can't hurt you anymore."

Sara nodded and the nurse reentered. "Ms. Sidle, I need to give you that medication now," she stated.

"Griss, please stay until I fall asleep," Sara whispered.

"I won't leave you honey," Grissom whispered, squeezing her hand.

_I'll never leave you._

_

* * *

_

When Sara fell asleep, Grissom kissed her forehead and left with the nurse. She led him to a small office down the hallway where the doctor was sitting behind the desk. "Dr. Grissom," the doctor spoke, "please have a seat."

Grissom sat down and eagerly broke in with his questions. "How was the surgery?" he asked.

"Dr. Grissom, just wait a minute," he spoke, "I have a lot of news to report."

Grissom became quiet in his chair and allowed the doctor to continue. "One of the bullets that entered Ms. Sidle's shoulder shattered her scapula. During surgery we pinned the bone back together and cleaned up the area as best as we could. The other bullet in her shoulder severed some nerves and muscle tissue. We tried to reconnect the nerves so she could have movement in her arm, but we won't know if that was successful until the pain goes down and she starts to heal. Once that happens, we can test for movement."

"How about her wrist?"

"That was a disaster, bone fragments were everywhere. We had to replace some of the small bones with synthetic materials. Some of the tendons were also damaged, and we're skeptical about how functional her hand will be. Once again, we need to wait until she heals to test function and range of mobility."

"Is that all doctor?" Grissom asked, moving to stand.

"Please Dr. Grissom, sit down," the doctor pointed, "Ms. Sidle has sustained other various injuries as well."

Grissom eyes widened at the prospect of more damage. _It wasn't enough that you took away what she needs to work, you had to take more? _"She has a large contusion on her back, and extreme swelling is present. She has a strained left shoulder, so her mobility is impaired there as well. We were concerned about a concussion, but the CAT scan came back negative, so she just has one whale of a headache. That contusion on her face, she's got a broken cheekbone underneath. The abrasions on her wrists and ankles have had antiseptic applied and have been bandaged to try and prevent infection."

Grissom sat back in his chair and pressed his fingers to the bridge of his nose, trying to ebb the invading migraine. "How long does she have to stay here?" he questioned.

"About a week," he answered, "we want to monitor her neurological sensitivity and make sure everything in her arm is setting right before she goes home."

The doctor let out a long breath and reassembled his thoughts. "The pain medication should keep Ms. Sidle asleep for about eight hours. You should get some rest so you will be able to function when Ms. Sidle wakes up."

Grissom nodded his head and got out of the chair. "Thank you doctor," he said before returning to the waiting room.

* * *

Catherine was glancing at an old magazine when Grissom reentered the room. She looked up when Grissom sat down beside her. "How is she?" Catherine asked. 

"Very lucky," Grissom stated, "but she might lose all mobility in her right arm."

Catherine processed the information for a moment before answering, "That would mean she couldn't..."

Grissom cut her off, not wanting to think about that prospect at the moment. "I know Cath. The doctor says they need to wait until the pain goes down somewhat before they do any neurological testing."

"Did the doctor say anything else?"

"Yeah, she has several lesser injuries. He broke her cheekbone, severely bruised her back, strained her left shoulder, and they bandaged the abrasions on her wrists and ankles."

"Handcuffs," Catherine stated.

Grissom nodded and looked at his hands. "I want to go back to the lab," he stated.

"Why?" Catherine whipped around, shocked.

"The doctor says she's going to be asleep for about eight hours. I figured I'd go to the lab."

"Oh no you don't," Catherine mothered him, "you're not working. I'm taking you home so you can sleep."

_I was going to sleep. _Grissom appeared to be thinking, so Catherine cut in again. "Gil, I've got the keys, you're going home, you don't have any other way to leave."

Grissom contemplated calling a cab, but didn't feel like going to the trouble. Grissom nodded and followed Catherine out to the parking lot.

* * *

Grissom lay in his bed awake, staring at the ceiling. Catherine had decided that he shouldn't have to drive back to the hospital by himself, so she had made herself comfortable on the couch. Catherine's cell phone vibrated on the side table, and she picked it up. "Willows," she answered, yawning. 

"How is she doing Cath?" Nick asked.

"She's pretty beat up," Catherine answered, "they're worried about her regaining motion in her right arm."

"Damn," Nick uttered, "Is this a good time to go see her?"

"She's sleeping right now Nick," Catherine replied, "I took Grissom home to get some rest."

"Can you ask him to call when it's a good time to see her? We all want to see how she is, but we don't want to make anything worse."

"Sure Nick. Believe me, you'll make her feel better, not worse. She's just in a lot of pain right now."

"Okay Cath. I'll talk to you later."

"Alright, bye."

Catherine put her cell phone back on the table and tried to get to sleep on the couch.

* * *

Grissom tried to get to sleep, but thoughts of Sara kept entering his mind. He kept telling himself that she was safe, but it was hard to sleep in their bed without her there. Grissom finally started to drift off to sleep when thoughts of Ecklie reentered his mind. He saw Sara bleeding and broken on the floor, and he shuddered once again. His mind shifted back to thoughts of her being kidnapped. Grissom woke up with a start and tears were streaming down his face. He angrily wiped them away and tucked his head further into the pillow. Minutes later he had fallen asleep again.

* * *

Grissom woke up about six hours later and jumped in the shower. After deciding that he looked somewhat presentable, he walked down the stairs to start lunch. Catherine was still asleep on the couch. Grissom put bacon and eggs on the stove, and puttered around the kitchen to get some drinks ready. Just before Grissom was ready to sit down, Catherine came into the kitchen looking disheveled. "Mmm, bacon and eggs," Catherine spoke, taking in a deep breath. 

"Yeah, sit down and have some," he said, pointing to a matching plate sitting across the table.

Catherine sat down with him and began eating the meal. "I'm surprised Sara lets you have this in the house," Catherine said.

Grissom smiled with the mention of Sara. "I am under specific instruction to keep meat in a special drawer in the refrigerator and only cook it when she isn't around. She doesn't like the smell of it cooking."

"This is good Gil."

"Thank you. When you're finished you're welcome to take a shower if you want."

"Nah," she spoke, "I was hoping to drop you off at the hospital and then go home to clean up. Maybe I'll actually catch Lindsey."

Grissom smiled. "Say hi to her for me, I haven't seen her in a while."

"Well, she's still in that awful stage, I sure hope she gets out of it soon."

Grissom smiled again. "I'm sure you'll get through it."

Catherine smirked at the thought. "Oh, Nick wants you to call him when you think it's a good time for them to see Sara."

"Alright, thanks Cath."

"Sure. Now, let's finish up so we can head back to the hospital."

Grissom nodded his head and they both finished eating their meal.

* * *

When Grissom entered Sara's hospital room, her head was shaking back and forth. He quickly went to her side and stroked her uninjured cheek. "Sara, honey, you're okay, I'm here, everything's okay," Grissom soothed. 

Sara's eyes shot open, and she suddenly leaned forward. She choked back a scream when she felt the fiery pain rip through her body. Grissom helped her lay back down and tried to calm her down. Tears streamed down Sara's face as she struggled with her emotions and the pain. A nurse came into the room and adjusted her pain medication. "Ms. Sidle, I'm going to hand you a lever that is set to administer you some pain medication. If you are in pain, you can press the button and it will give you the medication up to two times an hour."

Grissom nodded to the nurse, for Sara was still hysterical. "If you need anything, just use the call button," the nurse told Grissom before leaving the room.

Sara started to calm down somewhat and started to breathe a little slower. "Hold me," she hiccupped through the tears.

_How do I hold you without hurting you? _Grissom slowly sat down on the edge of the bed and wrapped his right arm loosely around her neck. He leaned his head down near hers and kissed her cheek. "Please, tell me if I am hurting you."

"You're not," Sara whispered, "I just need to feel you near me."

Grissom nodded his head and kissed her briefly on the lips. "I love you, I'm here for you."

Grissom felt Sara try and put her arm around him, and he grasped her hand with his left hand. Sara started to sniffle again, but Grissom leaned up and brushed her tears away. "Gil," she sniffled, "I need you to tell me what is wrong, what did he do to me?"

Grissom kissed her lips again, but she grasped his hand tighter, expecting an answer. "Sara, you're the one with the injuries, what do you feel like?"

Sara started to take stock of how she felt, but stopped when she realized she couldn't feel her arm. She started to get excited once again and tears began rolling down her face. "Gil, I can't, I can't," she stuttered, "I can't feel my arm."

"Sara, don't try to move it, you suffered three gunshots wounds, you need to heal," Grissom said, trying to hold back his own tears.

Sara's lip started to quiver when she realized what that meant. "Gil, work," she shuddered.

"Don't worry about work right now Sara, just concentrate on getting better," Grissom wiped away more of her tears, "Nothing is definite, you need to heal some more before the doctors can do some tests."

Sara tried to calm her tears, but more kept spilling out. Grissom once again lightly wrapped his arm around her and kissed her forehead. "We'll make it through this, you're going to be okay."

Sara relaxed in the bed and ultimately cried herself to sleep. Grissom stayed with her in the room, eventually resorting to sitting in a chair so he wouldn't hurt her. _Thank you for letting me have her, thank you._

* * *


	11. Chapter 11

While I am a fan of constructive criticism, please refrain from using blatant profanity in your reviews. To the rest of you all, thanks for your support.

* * *

"That gun was police issue," Nick said, packing away evidence from Sara's case. 

"I know," Warrick answered, "this is just horrible, she doesn't deserve this."

"I just want to go see her, see for myself that she's okay."

"Griss is going to call you, right?"

"Yeah."

Warrick slipped the closed sticker onto the box of evidence and headed down to lock up. With everything wrapped up with the case, they would finally get a chance to catch up with the rest of the crimes in Las Vegas.

* * *

Four days later, Sara woke up with excruciating pain in her arm. Grissom had been sitting nearby, his nose in a forensic journal, but he looked up when he heard her gasp. "What is it honey?" he asked, clutching her hand. 

"Get the doctor," she managed to get out.

Grissom pressed the call button and tried to comfort her. "Shh honey, he'll be right here."

The doctor walked into the room and saw Sara scrunched up with pain. "My arm," she gasped, "I can feel it, but it hurts like hell."

The doctor adjusted the pain medication, and after a few minutes she was relaxed enough to speak comfortably. Her hand was still clenched tight around Grissom's, but she appeared somewhat more comfortable. "Where does it hurt Ms. Sidle," the doctor asked.

Sara took in a deep breath. "From my shoulder, all the way down my arm."

The doctor rolled up a stool near the bed and pulled out a pin. "I want to test the sensitivity in your fingers," the doctor spoke, "tell me if you can feel the pin prick."

The doctor poked at her fingertips, and the answer was affirmative each time. "For now, try and get comfortable and get some rest," the doctor stated, "I'll tell the nurse you can have a sedative administered if needed."

Sara nodded to the doctor and turned back to Grissom when he left. "Gil, it hurts so much," tears escaped from the corners of her eyes.

"Honey, it's so good that you have feeling though," he tried to console her.

Grissom administered his makeshift hug again and held her as she cried. After a while, she still seemed pasty white and in a lot of pain. "Honey, do you want me to get the nurse?"

"Yeah," Sara conceded, "this pain is just about unbearable."

When Grissom came back with the nurse, she gave Sara a sleeping aid and once again adjusted her pain medication. After a few minutes, she was sound asleep once again. "How long will she sleep?" Grissom asked the nurse.

"Approximately eight to ten hours."

"I'm going to leave for a bit and try to get some rest. Please call me if there are any problems."

"Sure Mr. Grissom."

* * *

Grissom left the hospital and headed toward the lab. _I can at least tell the guys what is going on, even if I can't sleep. _"Grissom, what are you doing here?" Greg asked, noticing Grissom enter the lab corridor. 

Grissom turned around and saw the lab tech staring at him. "Sara is sleeping, I figured I'd come by and tell you how she is doing."

"Oh, well it's been a slow night, we're not really working on much, you can probably get the gang together now."

"Alright, let me go talk to Catherine first, be in the break room in five."

Greg nodded and went to put some papers away before going to the break room.

* * *

Grissom continued down to Catherine's office and opened the door. What he encountered shocked him. _Where did all her things go? _He decided to go back to his office and page her. 

When Grissom opened his office door, he found the redhead seated behind his desk. Catherine looked up and gave him a small smile. "How's Sara?" she asked.

"Sleeping," his reply was short, "what happened to your office?"

"Well, the sheriff decided to put the team back together."

"Oh, how nice of him to notify me," his statement dripped with sarcasm.

"He apparently needed to space for the new swing shift head, even though that was my office before."

Grissom started to reply, but Catherine cut him off. "Since I'm acting supervisor right now, and I'm working on all of your paperwork, your office looked like a good place to work."

Grissom gave her a half smile. "I'm going to go update everyone on Sara's condition."

"Where?"

"Break room."

"Well, let's go then," Catherine said, dropping her pen and taking Grissom's arm on the way out.

* * *

The team had assembled in the break room and were all drinking coffee. They were all anxious to hear the news, so Grissom started right in. "Catherine probably told you about the severity of the injuries to Sara's right arm," he stated. 

He received nods and affirmative statements. "She regained feeling in her arm, but she is in a lot of pain. The doctor is doing all he can to keep her comfortable, but there isn't a lot he can do. Right now, she is sedated and resting."

"Do you think when she wakes up she'll be comfortable enough for us to visit her?" Nick asked.

"I'll tell you what," Grissom reasoned, "why don't you come around nine tomorrow morning to visit her. That way, she will have been up for a while and might be more comfortable."

"If it's a problem Griss," Warrick stated, "call one of us and we won't come."

Grissom nodded. "I'm sure she'll be happy to see you all."

After they had finished their conversation, Grissom decided to go home and try to get some rest. _Hopefully I'll have better luck this time._

_

* * *

_Grissom returned to the hospital looking more refreshed and alert. When Sara awoke, she needed a few minutes to adjust to the constant pain, but she seemed to be feeling slightly better. "How do you feel?" Grissom asked.

"Wonderful," she lied with a small smirk, but continued, "slightly better. They've got me so doped up that everything is just like a dull ache."

Grissom smiled and pressed a kiss to her forehead. "If you don't mind, the team wants to come by and see you."

"I'd love to see them," Sara said, a small sparkle present in her eye.

"They're coming by around nine. I wanted some time alone with you first."

Sara smiled and let out a small chuckle. _Good, that got a grin out of her. _"Come here mister," Sara pointed to the bed.

Grissom carefully wrapped his arm around her, and they shared a kiss. "That's about as alone as you're going to get," she joked.

Grissom smiled and playfully bit her ear. "Be good Gil," she smirked, "we're in a hospital."

Grissom pulled back as a slight redness engulfed his face. "We've got about an hour," he joked back, "you're all mine for a while."

Sara smiled and tried to rest comfortably with his arm around her. _What would I do without him?_

_

* * *

_

"Hey Sar, how are you feeling?" Nick asked, entering her room.

"Okay, come on in," Sara said.

Nick entered the room with Warrick close behind him. "Hi Warrick," Sara stated, noticing Warrick's presence.

The four of them chatted and visited for a while, then Catherine and Greg replaced Warrick and Nick. When Sara started to yawn, they told her to feel better, and they left Sara and Grissom alone. Before long, Sara had fallen asleep, Grissom by her side.

* * *

One month later, Sara had been home from the hospital for awhile, and she was starting to adjust to her condition. Her right arm was still in a brace and a sling, and her wrist had a cast around it. Her physical therapist had given her exercises to work on with her fingers to try and keep some strength. 

"Damn it!" Sara yelled, kicking the kitchen cabinet.

Hearing Sara swear, Grissom exited the bedroom and found Sara picking up pieces of a broken plate in the kitchen. "Let me help you with that," he stated, walking across the room.

"No!" Sara yelled, "I'm sick and tired of everyone helping me, I can do this myself!"

Grissom realized there was no rationalizing with her, so he turned around and went back to the bedroom.

* * *

When Sara finished picking up the broken dish, she went in search of Grissom. She found him in the bedroom sitting with his head down. 

_Why do I keep doing this? _Sara sat down next to him and wrapped her arm around him. "I'm sorry," she spoke, leaning her head on his shoulder.

Grissom carefully pulled her into his arms and kissed the top of her head. "No, I'm sorry I keep nagging you, I just don't want to see you hurt yourself."

"Gil, don't," she said, stopping him, "I'm just really moody and anxious right now. I'm ready to go back to work, but I'm not sure I'll do my job right."

Grissom pulled back from her and looked her in the eye. "Sara, you're just helping Greg in the lab. If you think you need more time, you can stay home longer, you know that."

"No," Sara said, shaking her head, "I can't stay here anymore, I'm going out of my mind."

"Okay then," Grissom kissed her cheek, "you're going back tomorrow to help Greg. Do not even think about going into the field."

"Is that my boyfriend or my boss speaking?"

"Both."

Sara nodded her head and kissed his lips in return.

* * *

Two months later, Sara had fully recovered from her injuries, and all that could still be seen were the horrendous scars. She had requalified at the firing range, and was finally able to return to field work. "Hey Sar, welcome back to the field," Nick stated when she entered the locker room. 

"Thanks," Sara smiled.

"C'mon, give me a hug," Nick held his arms out.

Sara obliged and gave Nick a big hug. _It's so nice to have good friends. _Sara finished putting some things away in her locker and went to leave the locker room. "Nick, c'mon, you're going to be late for assignments," Sara chided.

"Maybe I can get in good with Grissom so I don't have to worry about that," Nick grinned.

Sara slapped his shoulder before leaving the room to go to the break room.

* * *

By the time Sara and Nick arrived at the break room, everyone else was already there. "Welcome back Sara," Catherine stated, sipping her coffee. 

Sara received other welcomes from the group. "Thanks, it's good to be back," she stated.

"Let's get underway," Grissom said, bring the group's attention back to him, "Cath, you and Warrick take this robbery, Nick, take Greg and go to this apparent suicide, and Sara, you're with me, we have a vandalism."

"A what?" Sara asked in shock, "What do we have to investigate at a vandalism site?"

"Kid says he didn't do it, swears the paint on the wall doesn't match what's in the can. Apparently the kid watches a little too much tv and specifically asked for us down there."

"So now we go to scenes when the criminals ask us to? And two of us need to go?"

"It's that or stay in the lab, Sara," he said sternly.

"I'll meet you at the car," she said in a huff, leaving the room.

Nick, Warrick, and Greg left the room. "Lover's spat?" Nick said under his breath.

The three of them smiled and kept walking. "Don't keep her on too tight of a leash Gil," Catherine stated.

"I'm not keeping her on any leash. We've only got small stuff tonight, and I'd rather she start out slow than just throw herself back into work."

"She's going to see it as favoritism Gil, keep a watch on her, but don't coddle her."

"Mind your own business for once Cath," Grissom said, leaving the break room.

_Don't mess this up Gil, don't mess this up._

_

* * *

_The drive to the scene had been relatively quiet, but Sara suddenly started conversation. "What was that back there Gil?" she asked.

"Sara..." he started, but she cut him off.

"Don't Sara me. I qualified to go back into the field, I've been waiting for months to be able to, and you stick us with this excuse for a case."

"Sara like I said..." he spoke, but she cut him off again.

"You don't need to shelter me Gil, we've been through this before," she practically yelled, exasperated.

"If you would let me talk for a minute, I might be able to explain," Sara looked like she might object, but she went quiet, "There were only three cases so far for tonight. I didn't want to stick the rest of the team with this case, and since you've been out for awhile, I thought it would be fairer to put you on a case like this. Also, I didn't want to send you out alone on your first case back, so here I am with you."

Sara took in a deep breath. "Let's go do the scene, we'll talk later when we're home."

Pulling to a stop, Grissom held her hand before they exited the vehicle. "I won't deny that I'm trying to keep you safe, but if it was any of the guys, I would treat them the same way."

Sara nodded and exited the car, ducking under the tape to enter the crime scene. Grissom shook his head and grabbed his kit before entering the scene.

* * *

After collecting evidence from the scene, Grissom and Sara started back to the lab. "I can't believe we were called out there just because it is the principal's son. That's crap." 

Grissom's eyes widened, obviously knowing she was still angry. "I hate politics."

"Who doesn't know that?" Sara turned toward him.

Grissom brushed that off and tried to change the direction of the conversation. "When we get back to the lab, there will be another case for us to work on."

Sara nodded and looked out the window. She was silent the entire way back to the lab.

* * *

By the end of shift, Grissom and Sara had gone to a home invasion and a convenience store robbery. The evidence was cut and dry, and processing needed to be finished in the lab. Sara was sitting in the break room when Grissom entered. "You ready to go home?" Grissom asked. 

Sara nodded her head and met him at the door. He draped his arm around her waist and they left the building.

* * *

In the car, Sara rested her hand on Grissom's knee, and he put his hand on top of hers. When they arrived home, they went into the living room and Sara wrapped her arms around Grissom, pulling him in for a big hug. "Thank you," she said. 

Grissom was puzzled, but he held her tighter and kissed the top of her head. "For what?"

"Not getting mad."

"Sara, I was just trying to get through to you..."

"I know, I know. I think I was just anxious to go back, but now, I'm glad I'm home."

"Why is that?" Grissom said with a glint in his eye.

"Because now I can do this," she said, pulling him in for a deep kiss.

They continued to exchange passionate kisses, and Grissom was instantly aroused. They hadn't been intimate since before the accident, and they both shared a sense of longing. Breathlessly, Grissom picked Sara up and carried her to the bedroom.

* * *

Grissom was above Sara, leaning on his arms, kissing her, when she suddenly stiffened. He looked her in the eye with confusion. "Are you okay?" he managed to get out. 

When she started to shake her head, Grissom untangled himself from her and rolled over to his side of the bed. When Sara started to cry he tried to comfort her, but she put his shirt on and slid to the floor. Grissom tried to put his hand on her shoulder, but she shied away. "Don't," she said through her tears.

Grissom pulled his boxers on and waited for Sara to say or do something. He didn't expect for her to get back in bed and wrap her arms around him, but he welcomed her touch. She continued to cry, but he felt better knowing that she came back to him. "I can't," she whispered through her tears.

Grissom turned over and wrapped his arms around her. "Shh," he soothed.

"All I saw was him," she pulled tighter to him, "over me, wanting to hurt me."

Grissom instantly knew what she was talking about. "He's gone, he'll never hurt you again," he said, pulling back the shirt to trace over the scars on her shoulder.

Sara flipped Grissom onto his back and started to assault his body with kisses once again. Grissom grabbed onto her shoulders and looked her in the eye. "Are you sure you are ready for this?" Grissom asked.

"I need to feel alive, to be with you again, it's been so long," she said between kisses.

"Believe me, I know," he said, returning her kisses, "but if you're not comfortable."

Sara's kisses continued down his body and he lost all coherent thought. They spent the rest of the morning reaffirming their love for each other.

* * *


	12. Chapter 12

Sara opened her eyes and turned over in bed. She smiled at the sight before her. Grissom lay on his back with the sheet haphazardly tossed across his waist. One arm lay across his stomach, and the other sat up near his tousled hair. Sara couldn't resist him, she leaned over his body and stole a kiss. Although he kept his eyes closed, Grissom's arms went into motion, and he put his hands on her bare hips. "Hmm, what a way to wake up in the evening," Grissom mumbled.

Grissom pulled her in for another kiss and rolled them onto their sides. "We don't have time for this," Grissom moaned, trying to pull away from her.

Sara held tight to him as she continued to administer kisses. "We can make time," Sara whined.

With his free hand, Grissom grabbed the alarm clock and put it between them. Sara's eyes widened in shock when she looked at the time. She immediately pulled herself out of bed and made her way to the bathroom. "I'll go make coffee and toast," Grissom stated, getting out of bed, "by the time they're ready you should be done."

Sara nodded, and in seconds, Grissom heard the water turn on.

* * *

Grissom and Sara made it out the door within half an hour and started their drive to work. Sara had the passenger side mirror down, trying to tame her curly hair. "This is impossible," she complained, "I didn't have nearly enough time to blow dry this correctly." 

"Sara, you look fine," Grissom reasoned.

"No I don't, my hair is out of control. We should have gotten up earlier."

"Well, if we didn't indulge in certain escapades when we got home this morning..." Grissom teased.

Sara shot him a look, but she couldn't conceal her smile. "That was good, wasn't it?"

Grissom nodded, and the smile stayed on his glowing face. He looked over, and Sara was still fussing with her hair. "Just pull it back in a ponytail honey," he suggested.

Sara obliged and pulled her hair back. "I don't like it this way either," she admitted as they pulled into the lab, "but it'll have to do."

"You look wonderful, Sara, as always," he said, parking the vehicle.

"Charmer," she teased.

Grissom winked and got out of the car, both of them entering the building.

* * *

Catherine, Warrick, and Nick were already in the break room when Sara entered. "You're late," Nick stated. 

"Am not," Sara countered, "I still have five minutes."

"Yeah, but you're usually here half an hour or more before now. Where's Griss?"

"In his office getting assignments."

"So he's late too?"

"Nick, we do come to work together, and once again, neither one of us are late."

Catherine looked up when Grissom entered the room. _That's definitely the look of a man who had a good time in bed. _"You have a busy morning?" she asked, noticing the slightly tired look on his face and the gleam in his eye.

Grissom's eyebrow rose toward his hairline, but he was able to fight the redness that was threatening to creep onto his face. Grissom chose to ignore the question and he continued to hand out assignments. "Sara, you've got a B&E, take Greg. Warrick, Nick, casino robbery. Catherine, you and I are taking the decomp."

A frown crossed Catherine's face and Sara chuckled. "We caught up on some things," Sara whispered in her ear on the way out of the room.

Everyone else when to leave, and Grissom turned around when he didn't see Catherine follow him. "Coming Cath?" he asked.

Catherine nodded and they both left to go to the scene.

* * *

"This was definitely accidental," Catherine stated, noting the towels near the tub and the lack of any evidence of foul play. 

"All of the evidence hasn't been collected yet," Grissom countered.

"Elderly woman, went to take a bath, slipped, fell, and hit her head on the tub. She fell in, drowned. Since she didn't have a lot of people visiting her, the neighbor just found her when the papers and mail began to pile up."

"Let's get these prints back to the lab and let Al finish the autopsy before we draw any conclusions."

Catherine and Grissom walked back out to the car and headed for the lab. "Gil," Catherine started to apologize.

"Catherine, stay out of my personal life, that was out of line."

"Gil, I was just..." Catherine started, but Grissom gave her a quick glare.

"Are things back to normal?" Catherine asked, "I haven't seen that look in a while."

Grissom gave her the same look again, but this time he couldn't hold back the blush. Catherine laughed at his reaction. "Gil, I'll leave it alone," Catherine smirked, "I'm just glad to see you and Sara happier. These past few months have been pretty rough."

"Yeah, but things are finally getting back to normal. But Cath, you mention anything about my personal life in front of everyone else again, or if you start to interfere, you will be getting quite familiar with decomps. You get my drift?"

"Yeah, you smell," Catherine joked, holding her nose.

"So do you," Grissom said, glad the topic was off of his love life.

Getting back to the lab, Grissom and Catherine went their separate ways to shower and start processing evidence.

* * *

Sara finished her B&E with Greg and went back to the lab. She found Grissom processing fingerprints. "You smell," she noticed as she got closer to him, "did you shower yet?" 

"Once."

"Well, you definitely need to shower again. Do you have enough lemon juice?"

Grissom sighed and rolled his eyes. "I want to finish processing these prints so I can go home on time. I'll shower again when we get home."

"Alright, I've got to get away from you then. I'll be in trace if you need me."

Grissom nodded and she left the room.

* * *

Later at home, Grissom was showering while Sara prepared pancakes. They had decided to eat a light meal to decompress before going to bed. After finishing his shower and determining that he smelled a lot better, Grissom put on a t-shirt and sweatpants before returning to the kitchen. "Mmm," Grissom moaned, the wonderful scent of pancakes overwhelming his senses, "smells good." 

Grissom wrapped his arms around Sara's waist as she tried to cook and nuzzled her neck. "Griss," she complained, "you're going to make me burn the pancakes."

Grissom chuckled and squeezed her tighter. "No, I'm not, quit complaining and flip them over," he joked.

Sara flipped them over and turned around in his arms. "You smell a lot better," she said, setting the spatula on the counter and wrapping her arms around him.

"I know," he teased, "now it's going to be your fault that the pancakes burn."

Sara feigned a hurt look and hit his chest before turning back around to take the pancakes out of the pan. "You think you're so good at making pancakes, you make the other two," she pointed at the bowl of batter.

"Gladly."

Grissom poured two more pancakes into the pan and turned back to where Sara was standing. He lifted her up onto the counter and sat her next to where he was working. "Watch carefully," he grinned.

She watched him as he flipped the pancakes over and finally took them out of the pan. "Are you going to help me down?" Sara asked, knowing full well that she could get down by herself.

Grissom slid her off of the counter and set her back onto the floor. "Better?" he asked, smirking.

"Yes," she said, pulling him in for a kiss.

"My pancakes are going to be better than yours," Sara teased.

Grissom pouted. "No they're not."

"Well, we'll soon find out."

Sara dished out the pancakes and added syrup to the top of them. Both of them had one of their own pancakes and one of each other's pancakes. Sara ate her pancake first, and she moaned when she took a bite of Grissom's. Grissom smiled and looked up. "Real good, isn't it?"

Sara nodded and finished swallowing the bite. "What did you do to this?"

"I just cooked it less than you cooked yours and made the pancakes a little thinner."

"You've been holding out on me," Sara took another bite.

"No, you just always like to cook the pancakes."

"That's because it's one of the only things I can cook that we both like a lot."

Grissom smiled and took another bite of her pancake. "Yours aren't that bad," he joked.

She looked hurt and Grissom immediately started to correct himself. "Sara, your pancakes taste fine, I was just joking with you," he tried.

Sara smiled, "I was joking with you too."

It was Grissom's turn to play hurt. Sara finished eating her pancake and went around the table to sit on Grissom's lap. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her neck. "For the record," Grissom stated, "I will still eat your pancakes."

Sara smiled. "For the record, yours are a whole lot better, there's no competition. However, we are done eating pancakes, and there are a number of things we could be doing instead of sitting here."

Grissom picked Sara up and carried her into the bedroom.

* * *

When Grissom woke up, Sara was laying on her back, staring at the ceiling. "What are you thinking about?" he asked, brushing her hair away from her face. 

Sara continued to stare at the ceiling. "You, me, us, things."

"That's kind of vague," Grissom stated and turned her toward him, "what's bothering you?"

"I had a dream, I guess it was more like a nightmare..."

Grissom picked up when she drifted off. "Was it about that night?" he asked, thinking he already knew the answer.

Sara nodded and Grissom pulled her into his arms. "Honey, remember, we talked about this a while ago. Wake me up if you have a problem or you need to talk."

"I didn't think it was a problem," she sniffled, turning in his arms.

Grissom was puzzled and unsure how to continue until she turned back over and pulled him tightly to her. He wiped away the few tears that had left tracks down her face and stroked her hair. "What is it honey?" he asked.

"I think I realize how much I need you, how much I love you," she squeezed him tighter.

"Don't cry honey," he caressed her cheek.

"I've never loved or needed someone as much as I love and need you."

"Sara, you know I'm not going anywhere," he soothed.

"I know, that's why I'm so happy. I'm safe, and I'm with you."

Grissom was still confused. "Sara, why are you upset?"

"Because I saw how close I was to never being able to see you again."

Grissom pulled Sara as close to him as he could and pressed countless kisses into her hair. Sara was holding on to him so tightly that her fingernails were imbedded in his back. When her sobbing subsided, Grissom pulled her up to eye level and caressed her face. "I love you so much Sara," Grissom briefly kissed her lips.

Sara still had a death grip on Grissom. "I love you too," she returned the kiss.

Grissom allowed Sara to slide back down and snuggle into his chest. Eventually, they fell asleep in each other's arms.

* * *


	13. Chapter 13

After another two weeks, Grissom and Sara had grown closer to each other than either of them could have imagined. Although their physical times together were amazing, they enjoyed taking the time to talk about things they hadn't discussed. They were sitting in his office, eating salads while on break. "Sara, do you think you could switch with one of the guys to get Friday off?" Grissom asked.

Sara rose an eyebrow and stabbed another piece of lettuce. "Why, do you want to do something?"

"I thought we could spend the weekend together."

Sara smiled. "I'll talk to Nick, I can probably switch next Friday with him. Where are we going to go?"

"I thought we'd just relax and stay home, unless you had something else in mind?"

"No, I think staying home, just the two of us, would be great."

Sara finished her salad and threw the container in the garbage. "I'm going to try and catch Nick before he goes back out to his scene."

Grissom nodded, and Sara left to search for Nick.

* * *

Sara found Warrick and Nick eating in the break room. "Nick, are you doing anything special Friday?" she asked, sitting next to him. 

"No, why, you ditch Griss and want to try me?" Nick grinned.

Sara giggled and slapped his knee. "No. Are you busy?"

"No."

"Can you switch with me for this Friday and I'll take next Friday?"

"Well, I don't know," he joked, "doesn't Griss have this Friday off too?"

"Nick, yes or no?" she said, exasperated.

"Sure, but it's going to cost you," he grinned.

"What Nick?"

"You get Griss to make me a groomsman at your wedding."

Sara's face turned beet red, and she went speechless. She turned on her heel and left the room. "I think that's a yes," Warrick grinned, looking at Nick.

"Oh, I know it is," Nick grinned back.

* * *

On their ride home, Grissom noticed that Sara seemed extremely quiet and antsy. "So, what did Nick say?" he questioned. 

A blush once again returned to her face, and she looked out the window to try and conceal it. "He'll switch this Friday with me and I'll take next Friday," she stated.

Grissom reached across the seat and grabbed her hand. "That's good," he stated, rubbing the back of her hand.

When she stayed quiet, he kissed her hand. "What's on your mind?"

"Oh, nothing," she answered, turning to him, "I'm just kind of tired I guess."

"You feeling okay?" he touched her cheek when he stopped at the light.

She leaned into his hand and nodded her head. "I think I just want to lay down when we get home."

Grissom nodded, and they spent the rest of their drive home in silence.

* * *

When they entered the house, Grissom pulled her in for a hug and a quick kiss. "You go ahead on in and lay down. I want to work on a few things quick and then I'll be in." 

Sara nodded and went into the bedroom to lay down. After undressing, Sara got under the covers and looked at the ceiling. _A wedding? Oh my gosh, I'm not sure I'm ready for that. Sure I am, I know Gil is the one, but does he really feel that way about me? I know he does, we both love each other very much. Stop worrying about this, he hasn't even asked you. Yet._

* * *

By the end of the week, Sara was still extremely anxious about Nick's insinuation. She had managed to convince herself that Nick was just teasing her, but something in the back of her mind kept telling her that marriage wasn't such an abstract possibility. "What do you want to do today?" Grissom asked, putting his hand on her bare stomach. 

Sara came out of her reverie and yawned. "I think I want to stay in bed and get some more sleep."

Grissom looked shocked. "Who are you and what did you do with my Sara?"

Sara's eyebrow rose. "Your Sara? I didn't know I was property of anyone."

Grissom laughed and pulled her into his arms. "We can do anything you want, honey," Grissom nuzzled her neck.

Sara snuggled into his chest and put her hands on top of his. "Just give me a little while longer," she yawned, "then we can get up and do whatever you want to do."

Grissom nodded and relaxed with Sara.

* * *

After Sara had fallen back asleep, Grissom carefully extricated his body from her hold and went to start dinner. He wanted to make the meal somewhat special, so he pulled out the ingredients to Sara's favorite vegetable lasagna. After putting the lasagna noodles in a pot to cook, he turned to the cutting board and started slicing eggplant and zucchini. Once he had all of the vegetables and sauce ready, Grissom lined the bottom of the pan with the lasagna noodles and proceeded to layer the vegetables, cheese, and sauce. Within fifteen minutes, Grissom had finished putting the lasagna together and put it in the oven to cook. He cleaned up the kitchen and put a tablecloth over the small table. Grabbing two candles and candlesticks out of a drawer, he finished setting the table and stepped back to admire his work. Finally, Grissom noted the time and went to sit in the living room to wait for Sara to wake up.

* * *

When it was time, Grissom put his journal away and went to take the lasagna out of the oven. Grissom heard Sara get up and close the door to the bathroom, so he knew he had a few minutes before she would emerge. He carefully cut two slices of lasagna and put them on their respective plates. Grissom topped off the table with two glasses, and he lit the candles before heading toward the bedroom. Sara was finishing getting dressed when he entered. "How was your extra nap?" he asked, massaging her shoulders while she buckled her belt. 

"Good," she stated, enjoying his ministrations, "what did you cook?"

"You'll find out soon enough," he smiled.

"Well then," Sara said, straightening her shirt, "I'm all dressed, rested, and hungry, so feed me."

Grissom turned around and gave her a passionate kiss before leading her out to the kitchen.

* * *

When Sara saw the elegant setup of the table, and the romantic candlelight, she brought her hand up to her mouth in amazement. "Gil, you shouldn't have," she said, turning around to see his reaction. 

He gave her another kiss and held both of her hands. "Sara, I just wanted to cook you a special dinner, that's all. I hope it's to your liking."

"Gil, you know vegetable lasagna is my favorite."

"That I do," he said, smiling.

Grissom pulled out her chair and made sure she was seated comfortably before he gestured to her glass. "What would you like to drink?"

"I'll just have some water," she said, allowing him to get the water from the refrigerator.

Grissom poured them both some water and sat down across from her. "Griss, you can have wine if you want to," Sara looked at him.

"I know," he smiled, "but I just want to have what you're having."

Sara smiled back and looked down at her plate. "You know, you are allowed to eat," Grissom joked, noting that she hadn't touched her food yet.

Sara smirked and took a bite of the lasagna. "Mmm," she moaned, "this is so good."

"Thanks," Grissom said, taking a bite of his own meal.

They exchanged casual conversation as they finished their meals. "Do you want ice cream or anything for dessert?"

Sara shook her head. "No, you've got me totally stuffed with all of this wonderful food."

Grissom smiled. "Well in that case, may I escort you to the living room?"

Sara smiled and allowed Grissom to take her hand. _This night is wonderful, Nick was right, he will ask me._

* * *

After Sara had settled against his chest on the couch, Grissom turned the television on and changed the channel to a movie Sara had wanted to see. "How did you know this was on?" she asked, "You made it quite clear that you weren't too interested in this movie." 

Grissom smiled and continued to stroke her arm. "I planned ahead of time and did some research."

"You set this whole thing up?"

"Yeah, I thought it would be nice to have a whole weekend to ourselves. Just kick back and relax and enjoy some us time."

Sara smiled and pulled his arm further around her. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," Grissom kissed the top of her head.

The two of them relaxed and watched the movie.

* * *

When the movie finished, Grissom turned off the television and tried to rouse Sara. He ran his hand up and down her arm and called her name. "Sara, wake up honey." 

Sara turned over and groaned. "What time is it?"

"Past midnight. You can go back to sleep if you want to, but I thought you might be more comfortable in bed."

Sara nodded, went into the bedroom, and laid on top of the bed. _He didn't propose with dinner, I guess I was just thinking too much after all. I'll have to kill Nick for putting those thoughts into my head. I am kind of disappointed though._

After putting the dishes in the dishwasher, Grissom entered the bedroom and found Sara laying on top of the bed. He went around to her side of the bed and kissed her forehead. Sara opened her eyes. "Were you going to get undressed or get under the covers?" Grissom teased.

Sara got up from the bed and allowed Grissom to pull the covers down and help undress her. After helping her, he undressed while she got back into the bed. He covered her and got into his side of the bed. "I was thinking about it," she stated, "but it seemed more important to just lay down on the bed."

Grissom smiled and spooned into her. "You didn't get to see the best part of your movie."

"Oh, what was that?"

"I don't know, I kind of tuned it out to watch you sleep, but they always say the end is the best part."

Sara smiled and wrapped her hands into Grissom's. "Thank you so much for tonight. What was the occasion anyway?"

"We hadn't had a special meal in a while, and I thought you deserved one."

_I guess he wasn't trying to propose. It might have helped if I had stayed awake though. _"Anyhow, thanks."

Grissom sighed into her hair. "It was just as special for me. I love to see you happy."

"Well, I'm certainly happy."

Sara relaxed into Grissom and started to fall asleep once again. Grissom listened to her slow and steady breaths. _I'm glad she had such a wonderful time. I hope tomorrow goes just as smoothly. _Grissom's eyes drifted to his dresser drawer before glancing back at Sara. _She's such a beauty, the love of my life._

_

* * *

_


	14. Chapter 14

After eating breakfast, Grissom and Sara sat on the couch to relax. Sara seemed incredibly quiet the entire time, and he wondered what was bothering her. "What are you thinking about, honey?" he asked.

_How I wish you'd have asked me to marry you. _"How wonderful last night was," she quickly covered, "that meal was perfect."

"Oh, okay," Grissom felt more relieved, "would you like to take a walk to the park?" Grissom questioned.

"Sure, we haven't been there in awhile. Give me a few minutes to get ready and then we'll go."

Grissom nodded and allowed Sara to get up from the couch.

* * *

Grissom patted his jeans pocket and went to put his shoes on. _She seems worried about something, I hope everything is okay. _Grissom stood ready by the door and smiled when Sara came out of the bedroom. "Okay, I think I'm ready," she stated, walking over to put her arm through his. 

They left the house, and Grissom locked the door behind him. They strolled down the sidewalk, arm in arm, heading toward the park. "What do you want to do at the park?" she questioned.

_Propose to you. _"I thought we could sit under that tree that we always sit under and look out over the water. Basically, we can just relax for a while. Why, did you want to do something different?"

"No, we can do what we always do. I like that it's so peaceful there, and no one is ever around that part of the park."

"Yeah, that is nice."

Grissom and Sara continued on their way to the park, casually sharing touches and glances, once in a while bumping into each other.

* * *

Upon entering the park, Grissom and Sara meandered their way to the spot they always shared. Grissom sat down and leaned against the tree, bending his knees so that Sara could lean against him. Sara sat down in front of Grissom and leaned against his legs. "You comfortable?" he asked, stroking her hair. 

"Yeah," she nodded, "the view here is so beautiful."

"The view I have isn't that bad either," Grissom joked.

Sara turned her head and smiled. "Gil, you sure know how to treat a woman."

Grissom smiled and leaned forward to massage her shoulders. "It feels good to know that I still have it in me," Grissom grinned.

Sara reached up and slapped his hand in response, which just led Grissom's grin to get bigger. When he finished her massage, he leaned back against the tree and allowed her to rest against him. _Alright, it's now or never. _Moving carefully so that Sara wouldn't notice, Grissom reached into his pocket to retrieve his prize. Then he feigned an excellent find. "Hmm, I found something interesting," Grissom reached his hand out.

"What, another one of your bugs?" she said sarcastically, still looking out over the water.

"I'll give it to you to take a look," he stated.

"I'm not touching a bug."

"It's not a bug," Grissom said, touching the bag to her shoulder, "look at it."

Sara reached her left hand around to take the bag from Grissom. Sara went speechless when she noticed its contents. "Gil!" she squealed, reading the writing on the bag.

Case#: XOXOXO  
Evidence: Sara Sidle   
Will you marry me?

The diamond and platinum ring glinted in the sun as she turned toward Grissom. Tears were in her eyes when Grissom pulled her to her feet and knelt in front of her. He took the evidence bag from her and pulled the ring out. "Sara, will you marry me?" he asked.

Sara nodded and Grissom slipped the ring onto her finger. "Yes Gil, of course yes," she exclaimed, pulling him to his feet so she could kiss him.

After a few passionate kisses, Sara pulled back and wiped away her tears. She held her hand out in front of her to get a good look at the ring. "This is beautiful Gil," Sara looked at it in awe, "I've never had anything this nice."

Grissom continued to hold her close and watched as she gazed at the ring. "I was so silly," Sara chuckled.

"Hmm," Grissom mumbled, lost in the moment and not really paying attention.

"I thought you were going to propose last night after dinner."

Grissom smiled. "I thought that was too simple and old-fashioned for you. I wanted to do something even more special."

Sara wrapped her hand back around Grissom and looked him in the eye. "So you brought me back to where we always came to relax, to just be with each other and detach for a little while."

Grissom nodded and Sara kissed him again. "You are so romantic, this was perfect."

On their way home, Sara leaned over and whispered in Grissom's ear, "I love you."

"I love you too," he whispered back in her ear.

All of their troubles behind them, Grissom and Sara walked arm and arm, enjoying the comfort and joy of each other.

* * *

The End

* * *

Thank you for all of your wonderful reviews! 

A sequel/continuing story will be posted soon.

* * *


End file.
